SEO Trends this Year: What Every Executive Needs to Know (Video & Infographic)

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A changing online environment can present challenges, but prioritizing your content and marketing strategies can help you outperform the trends in SEO that come and go every year.

SEO Trends this Year: What Every Executive Needs to Know

Until recently, SEO has been a lesser-understood aspect of the business, a fact which may be in part due to its changing nature in online marketing. While in the not-so-distant past SEO and content marketing have been used interchangeably, now the term SEO has been increasingly associated with the technical aspects of the trade.

Content marketing, which comes hand in hand with all SEO efforts, is becoming the primary driver of search visibility. As SEO and content marketing are principal marketing strategies for exposing the company brand to new prospects, this makes it all the more important that you stay cognizant of the latest SEO trends so that you can optimize these tools.

The SEO trends of this year require a slightly different set of skills and focus than might have been important previously. We use the term SEO loosely to refer to the entire set of practices associated with attracting prospects to your business online.

Increasing long-tail search

Comparing one- and two-word phrases to long-tail search traffic is a no-brainer. A long-tail search is more cost effective in terms of how much you’re paying for the term as compared to how many conversions you’re making with each keyword phrase. Brands wielding the power of a long-tail query will watch their profits go up. As a study from 2012 shows, 16-20% of daily keyword queries have never been seen before. Increasing the length of your query encompasses the mini-keyword contained in your long tail while still “catching” the searchers searching with additional conditions.

Sites must be optimized for mobile SEO and user intent

The use of smartphones has radically risen, leading to increased dependency on phones for internet access. According to the Pew Foundation, as of 2017, a full 77% of American now own a smartphone. Google has recognized this, increasing usability for mobile searchers–for example by inserting mobile friendly icons, and penalizing sites that show errors when accessed mobilely. If you are wondering if your website is in compliance.

Fragmentation of search across platforms

Search result queries are being fragmented across a variety of channels online so that internal search functionalities are improved to better serve the desired audience. CMOs are shifting focus to advertise the company’s brand across different platforms, not just Google. So Amazon, Wikipedia, Yelp, mobile applications, and other platforms still emerging must be looked after as opportunities to optimize online presence.

Inbound links reign

The inbound link increases your credibility as an online provider, and remains the best indicator of authority and value for search engines. It’s important then that CMOs focus on promoting their content to certain audiences with the specific purpose of earning these content citations.

The most powerful example of this is when you receive mentions or links to a quality content site, not just to your products page. This requires intentionality and relationship building with these relevant entities that you want to have referencing you, but it’s got a lot more bang for your buck than many of the other strategies you pursue. For more information please check out the infographic at the bottom of this page and check out the Backlinko Guide to Backlinking.

SEO Trends: Optimized!

How will you utilize the latest innovations in SEO trends to improve your company’s results? Companies that don’t change with their online surroundings risk decreased growth and even failure, though this can be difficult to continually master new skills and adapt to this changing environment.

Remember that above all, in every SEO strategy, content is King! Before you begin to use any of the new techniques to improve your results, ask yourself what kind of content you’re using to display your market brand, and whether this is accurately targeting the audience you want with the information and message that you want visible. To learn more about online and SEO trends, please talk to us at Farotech. We are here to assist companies in a wide variety of industries in their marketing efforts, doing our best so that you can do what you do best. Call us at 267.387.6620 and see our website at www.farotech.com.

Action Items & Take Aways

Make sure that your website is responsive. Google is penalizing companies who are not optimized for mobile devices.

Search for keywords that have highest visibility with lowest competition. You can find this out by measure your domain authority vs. an individual keywords difficulty score.

Developing a strong link building campaign is always advised. Use the enclosed infographic as a checklist moving forward.

Christopher Carr

Chris Carr is the President and CEO of Farotech. He started the company in 2001 and is widely known as an innovator of conversion science.